


When enemies come knocking

by AngelofDeath2837



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Fix-It, Dead May Parker (Spider-Man), Gen, Homeless Peter Parker, Hurt Peter Parker, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Angst, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker needs help, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Suicidal Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is a Good Dad, infinity war didn’t happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2019-07-27 23:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16229630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelofDeath2837/pseuds/AngelofDeath2837
Summary: Peter just wants to be left alone. He doesn't want anyone else to get hurt because of him. But Tony Stark has other ideas.





	1. All alone

Peter was up on the roof of a building, feet dangling off the edge. He was considering jumping, but deep down inside, he knew the fall wouldn’t kill him. He’d just break a lot of bones and then have to explain to Tony why he’d jumped off in the first place.

Cutting didn’t work, he’d already tried that, and his metabolism was way too fast to overdose.   
Damn his superpowers, they made suicide virtually impossible. 

He had nowhere to go, and no one to turn to. He knew that he should go to Tony and tell him what happened, but he knew that he couldn’t. Because then, the reality of what happened would set in, and Peter would have to face the consequences. Plus, he’d be placed into foster care, living with someone who didn’t care about him, and didn’t know how to care for a teenager. He knows kids in the system, and he is very aware of how it usually turns out. 

He hadn’t had enough money to keep paying the rent, so eviction had happened pretty quickly. He had no family, no friends, and no nothing. 

No one even knew that May was gone, when her job had called to find out why she hadn’t shown up to work, he told them she moved to California. 

Peter got up, legs protesting from their recent movement for the first time in a while. He looks back at his blanket and pillow, along with his backpack containing his belongings, everything that he owns. Taking one last look at his “home”, he jumps.

Quickly, he shoots his web at a windowsill and swings over to the next building, and on and on until he reaches his destination. Ducking behind an alley, he removes his suit and walks into school. 

As far as the school was concerned, Peter had changed his address so he was living with Ned. Ned knows that May isnt around, but not why. Ned thinks that she kicked Peter out because of Spiderman. Ned had offered to let him stay with him, but Peter insisted that with his whole family, and money being tight, it would be too difficult on him. As far as Ned is concerned, Peter is staying with Mr. Stark, which he says the school cannot know about. 

But he says Mr. Stark isn’t there a lot, so he doesn’t really get breakfast that often. 

Ned still feels guilty, and often brings breakfast for his friend. 

“Here you go Peter,” Ned says, handing him a bag.  
“Thanks.” They walk to Trig together, as Peter pulls a banana, a granola bar, and a juice box out of the bag. When they reach the classroom, they sit down in the first available desks. 

“Hey Penis Parker!” Flash greets as he enters, taking the seat right behind Peter.

Peter groans silently to himself, as the teacher, Mr. Brighton walks in. As he begins to drone on about inverse of sine, Peter finds himself drifting off to sleep. 

—————————————-

He was on his way into his apartment when he heard the scream. Then a gunshot.   
He ran up to the room as fast as he could get there, knocking open the door, and bolting inside.   
A man is standing over a bleeding body, smoke still coming from the recently shot gun. 

He looks down at the body. It’s May. 

“Shh…” The man whispers. “Vulture says hi.”  
The man starts to drag May out of the room. Peter is still too shocked to do anything but start to shake, tears silently streaming down his face. 

“Oh yeah, and if you tell anyone, I’ll kill Ned and MJ too.”  
He leaves, the dead body slung over his shoulder.   
Peter stands silently, his phone dropped to the floor with a slight bang, however in his ears it was as loud as a second gunshot, the noise echoing over and over in his ears. He drops to the floor and curls up into a ball, too stressed to do anything, even to breathe.   
——————————————  
Peter bolts awake.  
“Are you with us Mr. Parker?” Mr. Brighton asks sternly.   
“Yeah..” he mumbles. The class erupts in giggles.  
“Hey Penis Parker,” Flash whispers. “Sleeping isn’t how you get the girls to notice you. It’s how you get the teacher to notice you. I guess that’s the kind of thing you’re into then, huh?”   
“Shut UP Flash!” Peter whispers harshly back.  
“Mr. Parker, do we need to visit detention today?” The teacher asks.  
“No Mr. Brighton,” Peter mumbles back.  
“Well then you’d better stop talking,” he replies.

“Hey Penis! Penis!! Penis Parker!” Flash taunts, poking Peter hard in the back.  
Peter groans and leans forward into the desk.

“Penis Parker!”

“That’s enough! Mr. Thompson and Mr. Parker, I hope you both have no plans after school, because you’ll be spending the hour after in detention!” The teacher snaps.

“You’re dead,” Flash whispers.


	2. Less alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is Flash going to do to Peter? Peter doesn't even want to know.

The rest of the day drags on, Flash’s warning staying close towards the front of his mind.  
Ned is excitedly rambling on about the lego death star, and MJ is mocking his choice in fandoms.

“Hey Peter, you there?” Ned says.

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Peter hastily replies.

“I said do you want to come over to my house after school to help me build it?” 

“Sure, I guess. Not like I got anywhere else to go.” 

He pauses.

“Oh wait, I actually do have somewhere to go. Detention.”

“That was totally Flash’s fault, it's not fair that you got roped into his punishment.” 

“Yeah, well according to Flash, it’s apparently all my fault.” 

“Oh yeah, I heard that Flash apparently plans to hurt you after detention,” MJ adds.

“Oh wow, thanks for that, that’s really what I wanted in my head right now,” Peter sarcastically replies. 

“Just saying,” MJ defends.

The bell rings, and they all get up to go to their lockers. 

Peter drags his feet to detention, making sure to arrive after Flash so he can sit on the opposite side of the room.

Flash locks eyes with him, glaring menacingly.  
Peter tries to ignore him, and pulls his homework out of his bag.

After detention is over, Peter bolts out the door to the front steps. 

Flash runs after him, and with one shove, Peter finds himself rolling down the stairs, his right arm cracking on the bottom.

Peter screams in pain, but is cut of by Flash jumping down the stairs and kicking him in the arm. With that, Flash walks away towards the parking lot. 

Peter lies on the ground whimpering, several students staring from a distance as they observe what had just occurred. They wouldn’t step in to help, no one would dare cross Flash. 

Peter picks himself up off the ground, cradling his broken arm in his left one. 

No one comes over to help him, they all remain in their places, staring continuously. 

Peter wants to get away from them, so he walks into an alley, where he shoots a web at the roof of a nearby building and pulls himself up to the top. Once up there, he inspects his arm. 

His forearm is bent to nearly a 160 degree angle, he guesses that both the radius and ulna are snapped. 

He knows he has to reset it so it will heal properly, but even with his super strength, he cannot bring himself to do it. 

 

\---------------------------  
Tony Stark was having a bad day. Pepper was still in LA, unlike she had planned to be, Rhodey was in California, and he couldn’t really decide if spending time with Vision was actually enjoyable.

He found himself wondering if Peter would like to check out his lab in the new compound, then decided he would show up at Peter’s school and take him here, whether he wanted to or not. 

After all, while he could be working on the new suit for the kid by himself, Peter would probably like to help out. 

He sent Happy a text to let him know to drive them there, but then realized he didn’t know what time Peter was done school. 

“Hey FRIDAY, what time does midtown tech get done?”

“Midtown Tech classes end at approximately 2:30 pm sir,” Friday responded. 

He checked his watch. It was 1:57. 

“Guess that enough time, if we drive fast enough,” Tony thought, then headed for the garage. 

\-----------------------  
It was definitely NOT enough time, he discovered, as when he arrived, only the students from detention were leaving. 

He saw some kid with his hood up getting up off the ground, and dragging himself into an alley, and the kid that had pushed him appeared to be gloating, while heading towards the parking lot. 

“That’s messed up,” he thought.

He wondered if he should help the kid, who appeared to be in a lot of pain from the way he was walking. 

Tony got out of the car and started to walk towards him, but when he reached the alley, he realized who it was, as the kid pulled out web shooters and launched himself at the roof, oblivious to Tony’s presence. 

What had the kid gotten into now?

\--------------------


	3. Not alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark is here to help

Peter couldn’t figure out how he was going to hide his arm from the school, even with a long sleeved shirt on, his arm was still very visibly bent. He couldn’t go to the hospital, and he couldn't tell Mr. Stark, he’d ask too many questions.   
He pulled a hoodie out of his bag, and slipping it on, he decided it was enough to protect the injury from view. 

Just then, he heard a loud sound. He knew its source immediately. 

Turning around, he saw Iron Man hovering above the building. Peter sighed. 

“Hi Mr. Stark,” he groaned. 

“Peter, just what exactly was that? Is that kid picking on you? You definitely should have said something. Are you hurt?”

Oh good, he hadn’t realized about his arm. 

“I’m fine. That was just Flash. And how did you get here anyway?”

“I was going to pick you up and bring you to the compound to work on the new suit. What do you think?”

“Sure, I’d love to!” Peter was excited, finally a chance to work in the lab!

He ignores the immense pain in his arm and heads down to the car where Happy is waiting. 

When he got in the car, Happy greats him with his usual level of “enthusiasm”. Peter couldn’t focus on Happy right now though, all he can think about is his arm, and how much pain he is in. 

Tony notices that Peter is cradling his right arm, but he doesn’t want to say anything until he knows exactly what he is dealing with, so he remains silent. 

When they get to the compound, Peter is still amazed by the size of the place. He stands in awe, looking around at the exterior of the building. 

“Come on kid, we don’t have time for you to be marveling at this place everytime we come here,” Tony says in a half serious voice. 

They walk down to the lab, where Peter and Tony get to work on the suit. 

“Yeah, I’ve been having issues recently with the calibration for the web shooters.”

“I think I can see the problem, here hand me that nanodrive” 

Peter picks it us and hands it to Tony with his left hand, which increases his suspicion.  
Then later, when he notices Peter putting the panels on with his left hand, he decides to speak up. 

“Hey, aren’t you right handed?” Tony asks half innocently. 

“Umm… Well… Yeah, I am, but I uhhh… J-Just wanted to shake it up a bit..” Peter mumbles. 

“Uh-huh…” Tony says while walking over to the shaking 16 year old. 

Quickly he yanks up the sleeve, and gasps at what he sees. 

The bone is bent at an alarming angle, and it appears that the bone and been sticking out if his arm, but the skin had healed around the now offset bone. 

“And why did you find this unimportant to mention to me?” Tony asks sternly. 

“I uhh.. I didn’t want to bother you, I know you’re busy,” Peter says. 

“Kid…” he sighs. “Listen, I’m never too busy to make sure that you aren’t seriously hurt. Okay? If it’s something a normal person would get medical attention for, then I need you to tell me. Okay?”

“‘Okay,” Peter mumbles back.

“Good, now let’s get you down to the med-lab to get your arm checked. I’m pretty sure they’re going to have to re-break your arm to fix it, so you definitely should have mentioned this to me when it happened.”

They take the elevator down to the lab, where Helen Cho is.

“Hey Helen, so the kid broke his arm, and then didn’t find it important to mention to me for some reason,” He says in his sarcastic voice. 

“I’ll fix it right up,” She replies. They walk into the back, Tony sits down in a nearby chair to wait for the kid to get back. He decides he should call May and tell her what happened, so he pulls out his phone and scrolls through his contacts, and presses call. 

It rings roughly six times, before a man answers.

“Hello?” He says in a gruff voice.

“Hi, is May Parker there?” He asks, slightly confused. 

“Wrong number,” The man answers, before abruptly hanging up.

He guesses May must have changed her number for some reason. Oh well, he’ll just have the kid call her when he comes back.

Roughly one hour later, Peter comes back out of the med lab with a blue cast on his arm. 

“He’ll heal a lot faster than a normal person would, but make sure he leaves the cast on for at least a week so the bone can set properly, okay?” Helen says. 

“I will make sure that he does.” Tony answers. 

Tony turns Peter around by the shoulders so he is looking at him.

“Peter, when did May change her number? And why?”

“You called her?”

“Of course I did, well I tried to, to let her know you’re arm is broken so she doesn’t murder me when you get back.”

“I’ll call her, don’t worry,” Peter reassures him. 

He pulls out his phone and dials Ned’s number. 

“Hey May, Mr. Stark wanted me to let you know that I broke my arm, but it’s fixed, don’t worry.”

“Peter, this is Ned. And you’re arm is broken? Are you okay?” Ned responds

“Yeah May, I’m fine, don’t worry I’ll see you when I get back,” Peter says.

“Let me talk to her,” Tony says, reaching for the phone.

“Oh, too late, she hung up,” Peter quickly responds, hitting the end call button. 

"Peter!"

"It's okay, she's not mad!" Peter reassures him. 

"She'd better not be," he continues. "Oh, and I want May's new phone number."

"Yeah, sure," Peter hesitantly replies, hoping he will forget.


	4. the lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony nearly discovers the secret. How will Peter keep the truth hidden?

Thankfully, he did forget.  
They walked up to the common room, and after Tony orders pizza, they sit down to watch a movie. 

“What do you wanna watch kid?”

“What do you have?” Peter asks

“What are you kidding me? I’m a billionaire. We can watch literally any movie that you want.”

“Umm… How about the new Star Wars movie? I mean, personally I'm a fan of the original trilogy, the prequels are terrible, but the sequel isn't really so bad, Disney did a decent job, especially on the animation, and…”

Tony cuts him off.

“Oh my God, I really didn’t ask, but sure. Friday, play Star Wars episode…”

“8” Peter steps in.

“Yes, that one” Tony finishes. 

They sit down and watch the movie, eating pizza and ice cream. After it is over, Tony notices Peter had fallen asleep on the side of the couch. 

He didn’t have the heart to wake him up, and since it was a friday night, and he knew Peter didn’t have school tomorrow, he decided to let him sleep. He readjusted the boy so that he was lying down on the couch, pulled off his sneakers, and covered him in a blanket.

Then he realized he had to let May know that he wasn’t coming back that night, so he walked into the room across the hall to call her. 

“Friday, call May Parker,” he instructed.

“You do not have May Parker’s updated phone number sir,” Friday reminded him.

“Uggh, well can you find it then?” He asked impatiently.

After a moment, Friday responded, “There is no number on record under the name May Parker.”

“What do you mean?” 

“No one has a cell phone registered in that name sir,”

Tony sighed. “You mean she doesn’t have a phone?” 

Maybe that was why Peter was being weird about him calling May, she couldn’t afford to pay the bills. 

He figured since he was already paying the phone bill for the kid, he might as well add May onto the plan as well.

He went down to his lab to grab a new Stark Phone, and decided he would give it to Peter to give to May when he woke up. 

Tony also noticed they had never finished calibrating the kid’s web shooters, so he got to work on that as well, the nights without sleep growing steadily.

 

When Peter woke up, he wasn’t sure where he was. Then he remembered that he and Tony had been watching Star Wars, and he must have fell asleep.

“Good Morning Mr, Parker,” Friday said

“Morning Friday,” Peter responded. “Where’s Mr. Stark? And what time is it?”

“It is currently 8:26 am, and Tony Stark is currently located in the kitchen. Do you know how to get there?”

“Umm… No.” Peter answered, after thinking for minute. 

“Go down the hallway to the right, then take the stairs up to the kitchen,” Friday answered. 

“Thanks Fri.”

“No problem Mr. Parker.” 

He followed her instructions, and reaching the kitchen, he saw Tony sitting at the counter, sipping a cup of coffee. 

“Good morning Mr. Parker,” Tony greeted, his tone indicating that he was in trouble. 

Oh great, he had probably tried to call May again. 

“Umm.. Good morning,” Peter hesitantly replied. 

“You fell asleep on the couch and you looked comfortable so I didn’t want to wake you up,” Tony explained. 

“Oh yeah, mind explaining for me why there are NO cell phone contracts taken out under the name May Parker?”

“Umm… I … Ummm” Peter stuttered.

“Does May not have a phone Peter?” Tony asked gently. 

Peter decided this was a good lie and went with it. 

“No… She doesn’t. We can’t really afford one, soo… I mean she’s working like all the time, and..”

“Peter all you had to do was say something. I can get her a phone no problem, it’s literally nothing.”

“No, that’s okay Mr. Stark, you don’t have to do that,” Oh great now Tony would be wasting money on a phone contract for no one.

“Peter,” Tony said, giving him a stern look.

Peter decided that this was a lesser problem than explaining that he was actually homeless and that May was dead, so admitting defeat, he decided to go with it. 

‘Thanks Mr. Stark.”

“Don’t mention it, like I said, it’s literally nothing,” Tony replied. 

“Alright, now let’s get you home to your aunt,” 

They got in the car and drove back to New York. 

Stopping in front of Peter’s old apartment building, which he now sleeps on top of, Tony said goodbye to Peter, but after he got out of the car, Happy didn’t drive away, and waited for Peter to get inside. 

This was a bigger dilemma, since he no longer had a key to get in. He hoped that Happy would drive away as he got closer to the door, but no such luck. 

Tony leaned out the window. 

“What’s the matter kid? Don’t you live here?”

“Umm, yeah, I do. I’m just gonna go in my window though.”

“Okay, whatever..” They drove away. 

Finally, thought Peter, walking around to the back and scaling the building to get to the top. 

There, he found his cot, and all of his things, exactly where he had left them. 

Lying down, though he was not tired, he found his eyes beginning to form tears as they slowly drifted shut.


	5. The confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I was thinking I might work the avengers into this later into the fic, what do you guys think? it would probably involve resolution of Civil War, and wouldn't be compliant with Infinity War. What do you think? Also sorry for not updating sooner, gonna try and work on gettin these chapters out faster! I apologize for any grammar errors or errors in facts.

The next day, Peter was up and about in his Spiderman suit, swinging around Queens as usual. He had just come from Delmar's, for his usual sandwich, and was sitting on top of a building, eating it. His mask was only pulled up as far so he could eat his sandwich, not showing his face. 

 

Suddenly, he heard a scream, and he jumped up and quickly pulled his mask down, the sandwich was stuffed into his bag. Swinging down to the alley below, he observed a man holding up a woman with a knife, demanding for her bag. 

He jumped down into the view of the man. "Hey dude, its not nice to steal things. Maybe you wanna let her go?" He said in his usual tough Spiderman banter. 

"No way Spider freak. She's got something way too valuable. You wouldn't understand," the man growled. 

"Maybe but in any case, you should be able to understand this," he replied, quickly webbing the man's hand and knife to the wall of the alley. 

"Hey!" the man protested, but Peter ignored him, his attention turned to the lady in front of him. She was middle aged, with short brown hair and glasses. She was dressed in a business suit, and was carrying a bag that appeared to be filled with documents and things like that. 

"Hey, you're Spiderman, right?" She asked him. 

"Yeah, that's me," Peter replied, disguising his voice like usual. 

"Thanks for saving me, these are really important papers. I'm headed to a will reading, and I'm the lawyer."

"No problem ma'am, have a great day!" Peter said, jumping up onto the wall and swinging away. 

Peter stopped three muggings, a bank robbery, and retrieved a child's kite from a tree before returning to his rooftop, resuming his sandwich. 

He realized he hasn't been eating a lot lately, and with his advanced metabolism, that was never a good thing. This was precisely the reason that Mr. Stark had given him a credit card, with instructions only to use it for necessities, such as food and clothing, and the warning that he could see anything he bought. This of course had happened the week after May had died, Peter used the excuse that May wasn't pulling in enough money to feed his advanced metabolism as why he had passed out in front of Tony. 

Peter went down to the 7 eleven for a hot dog, chips and a slurpee, enjoying his "healthy" dinner on his rooftop. Eyes drooping, he crawled into his makeshift bed, drifting off to sleep. 

__________________________________

Tony was busy redesigning Peter's suit again. He wanted to recreate his web shooters so that they could be used longer distance, while also being more discreet to wear under his clothing.  
He was having trouble calibrating them for the longer distance however, so he was busy trying to figure out the correct equations to use. Suddenly, he got an alert from Friday that a new voicemail from Peter to Happy had come in Tony had redirected them from Happy's phone directly to Friday, since Happy was sick of listening to them, while Tony enjoyed listening. 

"Hey Happy," Peter started. 

"Saved a lady getting mugged going to a will reading today. Don't know who died, but I think the guy wanted the papers or something, I dunno. The police took care of it though. Stopped three more muggings and that bank robbery on 153rd street. Oh yeah, and tell Mr. Stark that the best slurpee flavor by far is Coke, not blue raspberry. Talk to you later, bye!"

Tony smiled. The slurpee debate had happened about a week ago when they had stopped at 7 eleven, much to Tony's protest, and he had discovered their vast difference of opinion in slurpee flavors. Tony preferred blue raspberry, while Peter preferred cherry. It was an ongoing debate, but with the addition of Coke into the mix, Tony reconsidered momentarily. 

He remembered he hadn't scheduled the next lab day with Peter, and decided to call May to figure out what day would be best.  
Dialing the new phone he bought for May, he waited for her to answer. 

_________________________  
Peter was in the midst of a nightmare, the building was crushing him again, while May bled out several feet from him, but he was unable to get to her.

"Why didn't you save me Peter?" May asked. "Its you're fault!" She accused, blood dripping out of her mouth. 

When suddenly, he bolted up, "May's" phone was ringing. The caller ID showed Tony Stark. 

"Shit, what do I do?" He thought. 

"Karen, can you make my voice sound like May's?"

"Sure Peter," Karen replied. "May I ask why?"

"Nevermind that Karen, just do it!" Peter insisted. 

Slipping on his mask, he answered. 

"Hello?" He asked. It seemed to be working perfectly, his voice sounded just like May's. 

"Hi May! I've been trying to get ahold of you for a while," Tony said. 

"Sorry about that. I've just been having a bit of trouble lately. Thanks so much for the new phone."

"Yeah, its no problem. So hey, I just wanted to apologize about Peter's arm, I didn't quite get there in time to prevent him from going down the stairs."

"That's not your fault, it was that kid Flash's," "May" answered. 

"So Peter told you about the bullying?" Tony asked. 

"Yeah he did, I called the principal right away. We're scheduled to meet next Tuesday."

"Good, so hey I wanted to ask you when is a good day for Peter to come down here to work in the lab, I don't know when he has decathlon meets or anything like that."

Peter thought a moment. "He can come down on Tuesday after he gets out of school."

"Alright thanks May." Tony said. 

"No thank you Mr. Stark," Peter replied, hanging up. 

___________________________________

Tony found three things strange about his phone call with May. Firstly, that Peter had told her that his arm was broken by Flash, Tony knew for a fact that Peter never told her when he gets beat up by Flash and always says that it had happened out Spidermanning. Secondly, that May's voice sounded slightly metallic, as though she was wearing a mask. Thirdly, she had called him "Mr. Stark". May always referred to him as Tony, never Mr. Stark. 

He knew something was definitely up, but he was unsure what had happened. He decided to google "May Parker" to see if there was anything in the news. 

No results found. 

That was weird, there was usually at least something when you google a person. 

He searched birth records for "May Parker". 

No results found. 

Now he definitely knew something was up. That combined with Peter's reluctance to let Tony talk to her, plus the fact that Peter had been spending a lot more on food and blankets lately were definitely factors in his consideration.

He decided he would go down to their apartment and investigate. Calling Mark-47 to him, he flew off towards Queens.


	6. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!! this chapter contains references to depression, and an attempted suicide. If this bothers you in any way, please don't read. 
> 
> If you are feeling hopeless, or like there is nothing here for you, please know that there are people in your life who love you. You are worth it, and you are the sunshine in someone's day. I am always here if anyone needs to talk, I will always listen. Love you all, my wonderful readers! <3

When Tony arrived at their apartment building, he called Peter's cell phone, to ask him to come outside so that he didn't have to leave the iron man suit. However, Peter did not answer his phone, so stepping out of the suit, he dug around in his pocket in search of the key for Peter's apartment. 

Not finding it, he walked up the stairs of the building until he reached the apartment.

He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Impatiently tapping his foot, he knocked again. 

The door swung wide open, a bald angry looking man standing in his underwear and a tee shirt stood there,, slouching forward slightly. 

"What do you want?" the man asked. 

Tony hesitated, before asking, "Do Peter or May Parker happen to live here?"

"Nope," was all the man replied, before swinging to door shut in Tony's face. 

Rude. Well, that was Queens for you. 

Tony had had enough of all of this. He was going to confront Peter and get the truth, whether he liked it or not. After walking back outside, he stepped back into the Iron Man suit.

"FRIDAY, track the kid's suit please."

"Peter Parker is currently sitting on the top of a building four blocks away."

He flew off to confront the kid. 

____________________

Peter had just swung around for a little while and stopped one mugging before coming to rest on top of a particularly tall building. He wandered around the roof for a little while, before walking over to the edge of the building, staring down to the ground below. 

What was the point anymore, he wondered. How could anything ever get better? Him being alive was putting his friends' lives in danger. Tony wouldn't miss him. 

The one question that plagued his mind was, was this building tall enough for the fall to kill him?

Was he actually going to go through with it this time? Would this be the end?

Suddenly, his phone started ringing. Looking down at the caller ID, he saw it was Tony. 

Denying the call, he stepped even closer to the edge of the building. He could tell there were tears coming down his face.

Karen chose this time to speak up, saying "Peter, you appear to be in distress. Shall I alert Mr. Stark?" He ignored Karen, took his mask off and threw it behind him. 

Staring at the ground, he heard a whirring noise behind him, and a voice. "Peter, listen to me."

Not wanting to, he jumped. He felt the air rushing in his face, excitement filling his numb chest. Then he felt metal hugging his body, And then nothing.  
_______________________ 

Finding Peter close by, he realized the kid wasn't wearing his mask. And he was crying. And dangerously approaching the edge of the building, 50 stories in the air. 

Tony felt the familiar panic filling his chest. Was he really about to do what he thought he was going to do?

He knew he had to remain calm to save the kid, so taking a couple deep breaths, he approached Peter slowly. 

"Peter," He started, worry revealing itself in the edge in his voice, "Listen to me."

And then the worst possible thing that could have happened, happened. His kid jumped. 

Putting full power to his thrusters, he dove after the kid, who looked content with falling. That scared him even more. Tony quickly enveloped Peter in a tight hug, and then gradually slowed their speed so that he wouldn't feel a sudden jolt. 

Lifting them back up to the top of the building, Tony lay the now unconscious boy down on the roof. Stepping out of the suit, he brushed his hands against his cheek, staring sadly at his kid, who he had no idea felt this way. 

How could he have not seen it coming? Why didn't he recognize the signs? 

He felt like it was all his fault. Fingering gently through Peter's hair, he spoke softly to his child. 

"Peter, I'm so sorry. I should have been there for you. Please open your eyes."

But there was no change in the face of the slumbering teen. No twitch, nothing. 

Tony knew he had to get Peter to the compound, and to the medbay, so he scooped him up, and peered lovingly at the unconscious bundle in his arms. 

"Hold on kid. I'm taking you home."


	7. The confession

Tony was pacing. The kid was still unconscious, thanks to some good medication. 

He would wake up soon, but hopefully be a little calmer, thanks to the tranquilizer. 

In addition, Peter was strapped by the wrists to the bed, just as a precautionary measure. Tony felt guilty about that too, but he didn’t want the kid to hurt himself again. 

He knew thanks to Peter’s super strength, he’d probably be able to snap the bindings, but he didn’t want to use vibranium cuffs on the kid, it felt way too harsh.

Plus the kid was sedated, so what could happen?

A lot apparently.

The machine measuring his heart rate started to increase in pace, and started to beep wildly. 

Tony rushed to his side, speaking in a low calming voice.

“Hey kid, its okay, you’re safe. Its me, Tony. You’re okay.”

Peter opened his eyes slowly. 

“Mr. Stark?” He croaked out, his breathing evening out.

But then, Peter tried to move his arms and found that he couldn’t. This terrified him, and sent him into another panic attack.

“Pete, its okay, you’re..”  
But Peter couldn’t think straight.  
He snapped the bindings on his wrist and did the only thing he could think of.

He launched himself at the ceiling and clung to it for dear life.

“Kid, please come down from there, you’re gonna hurt yourself!” Tony spoke urgently. 

Oh great, how would he get him down now?

Peter slowly calmed down at the isolation the ceiling offered. His breath evened again, and he slowly came back to reality.

“Tony?” The kid asked, sounding confused and hurt and it broke his heart into a million tiny pieces. 

“Yeah kid, its me. Come in down from there, please.”

Peter dropped from the ceiling onto the bed.

“Hey kiddo. How’re you feeling?” 

Peter thought a minute before simply responding  
“Okay.”

“Okay? Are you sure? Nothing hurts?”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Alright, well that’s good. Get some sleep kid, and when you wake up, we’ll talk okay?”

 

Peter lay down, and though his mind was screaming at him not to bother Mr. Stark, he spoke anyway.

“Stay?” 

“Course kid, I’m not going anywhere.”

________________

Sure enough, when Peter woke up again, Tony was still there. Albiet asleep. 

Peter didn’t want to wake him up, so he tried to get up silently to put in the clothes that were folded for him on the table.

Going into the bathroom, and shutting the door, he sighed.

Oh God.

How was he going to get out of this one?  
The men would find out he told Tony and come back. 

He had to protect Ned and MJ. Looking around the room, he found a small window. 

“Kid?” There was a knock on the door. Great.

________

Tony woke up with a start, looking around. 

The kid wasn’t in the bed anymore. The bathroom door was closed, however, so he figured rhe kid had simply gone to change.

He knocked on the door to make sure Peter was okay. 

“Kid?” He spoke.

There was no reply.

“Kid, I’m coming in there if you don’t answer me.

Nothing.

He flung open the door to find Peter halfway out the window.

He sighed.

“Kid, down from there now.”

Peter sighed and climbed back into the room.

“You owe me some answers,” Tony continued.

“Although maybe the bathroom isnt the best place. Lets go in the living room.”

___________

Once they were seated, Tony continued.

“Okay, first of all. What’s been going on with you? Where is May? What happened.”

Peter looked terrified, but he knew there was no way out of this one.

“May... um. May, she’s um... dead,” Peter finished.

“Oh Peter,” Tony said lightly before grabbing the sobbing spiderling and bringing him into a hug.

They stayed like that for a while, before Tony continued.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Where have you been living?”

“I... um.. on the roof. I didn’t wanna bother you.”

“Pete, we’ve been over this. You can NOT bother me. I care about you kid. I don’t want you to be hurting. I especially don’t want you to be homeless. So if something is ever going on, tell me so I can help you, okay?”

Peter nodded, still thinking. Tony WAS iron man. He may be able to find the men. 

“How did she die?” 

Peter took a deep breath.

“I can’t exactly tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because... because they said they’d come back to hurt Ned and MJ. They knew their names!”

“Who Peter? Are you saying someone came and hurt May?”

Peter nodded. 

“Yeah, I was coming home, and I heard a loud noise, so I ran up the stairs and she was..” Peter stopped, shaking.

“And they said If I told anyone what happened they’d kill MJ and Ned too. I think they’ve been watching me.”

“Oh Pete. Is that why you jumped?”

The kid nodded.

Tony stood. “Don’t worry kid. I’ll keep you safe. And your friends too.”

Peter wrapped his arms around his mentor. 

“Thank you Tony.”


	8. Chapter 8

Peter woke up with a slight gasp. He was having nightmares again, and he kept seeing May’s death over and over again. 

Ned and MJ were both in a safe house in upstate New York. Happy had made sure to pick them up unseen, and they made sure that no one, not even Peter, knew where they were, except Tony and Happy.

That made Peter feel a little better, but not knowing where they were made him feel uneasy. Tony has explained that if he knew where they were, and was communicating with them, the men might be able to hack Peter’s phone and find them. This was a simple precaution that many people followed in scenarios like this one.

It still didn’t help Peter stop feeling guilty that they couldn’t be at home. It was his fault they were targeted in the first place. And it was his fault that May died. 

Peter got out of bed and hopped in the shower. While he loved his new room that Tony has decorated just for him, he missed his bedroom in queens. He missed sitting on the couch watching tv with May, and most of all, he missed May’s cooking. 

Peter got dressed and walked into the kitchen, where Tony was sitting drinking a cup of coffee. 

“Morning Underoos!” Tony said cheerfully.

“Morning Mr. Stark,” Peter mumbled. 

“You can call me Tony you know.”

Peter didn’t answer, instead he sat down at the counter across from where Tony was sitting and began to look at memes on his phone.

“Peter.”

Peter looked up.

“I did some research about who might want to target you. The men who hacked your phone were surprisingly sloppy, I guess they had counted on you not telling anyone. Their IP address was tracable, and it led back to an old warehouse, owned by none other than Adrian Toomes.”

Peter was quiet for a minute.

“That’s probably how he knew about MJ and Ned. And where I lived.”

“Well, just to be safe, I don’t want you going out alone. I’m going to go down to the prison and have a little... chat... with him.”

“Mr. Stark, don’t hurt him please. He might hurt Ned and MJ.”

“Don’t worry Peter, I have several methods of being persuasive.”

____________________

Happy was not sure if this was a good idea. Tony hadn’t spoken to Steve in a year, and they were certainly not over what had happened. Steve, Scott, Sam, Clint, and Natasha were all waiting at the airport. 

Tony had been speaking with Nick Furey, and eventually they had managed to get rid of the accords, therefor pardoning the rouge avengers. Tony knew it was time to get them back on the team, and he had special ideas of how to get Toomes off of Peter’s back. 

But he needed Steve and Scott to do so.

Happy held his breath as he pulled up to the airport, where he could just make out a tall blond man pacing in the background.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Is that Captain America?” He gasped  
> “Yes, go to your room.”  
> “Is he mad at me?”  
> “For what?”  
> “For stealing his shield!”  
> “I’m sure he isn’t, now go to your room.”  
> “But-“  
> “NOW PETER!”  
> Steve whipped around and glanced at the teenager hiding behind Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So to better understand the timeline I’m writing here, (*Spoilers for Thor Ragnork and Ant man and the wasp*!!!!) basically when they got on the ship in ragnorok, Thor brings dr banner back to earth, and everything in ant man and the wasp is the same, minus the snap, and a bit earlier. Also, with endgame coming out, I will not change my story based on whatever happens in that either, since I’m writing this as though infinity was didn’t happen.

The tension in the car was measurable by the silence alone, and Happy was, in fact, not happy about it. Steve has yet to say a word, and Sam, Clint, and Nat were glaring out the window. 

In all fairness, Scott looked just as awkward as Happy felt, but that did little to assist in Happy’s mood. 

On the longest car ride ever to take place from the airport to the compound, and it would have to happen with the rouge, now pardoned, avengers. 

Finally, after what felt like a year, they arrived.

“Thanks Happy,” Steve said, shocking the driver. 

“Yeah, thanks,” everyone followed suit. 

Getting out, Steve looked at the new building, taking it all in. It looked much more spacious than the tower, but in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that was a better idea after all.

Walking in, the decor was similar to what Tony had done in the tower, if not more modern.

Then, standing in the doorway, Tony spoke.

“Rogers.”

“Stark.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

“In the lobby. I thought we’d do better sorting out some things alone first.”

“Alright, fine.”

________________

Sitting in the living room, they continued.

“Firstly, I want to say, it was wrong of me not to tell you what happened to your parents. I was just trying to protect him, and I’m sorry. Secondly, it was wrong of me to smash your arc reactor, and in sorry about that too.”

There was a pause. Steve began to look uncomfortable.

“Well, I guess I understand why you did what you did. Where is he anyway?” “Wakanda.” “Oh.” 

“So, friends again?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to go that far, but... friends, I guess.”

Tony stood up and went to the doorway to get some coffee, when he heard some footsteps coming from the ceiling.

He looked up, and Peter dropped down on the floor in front of him. 

“Is that Captain America?” He gasped

“Yes, go to your room.”

“Is he mad at me?”

“For what?” 

“For stealing his shield!”

“I’m sure he isn’t, now go to your room.”

“But-“

“NOW PETER!”

Steve whipped around and glanced at the teenager hiding behind Tony.

“Tony, who’s this?”

“Well Cap, this is Peter. He’s why I asked you guys up here.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Tony... how, old is he?” 
> 
> “Umm... well, he just turned 16.”
> 
> “So...” Steve stopped, and looked horrified.
> 
> “I dropped the entire loading dock of an airport on a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD?” 
> 
> “You did WHaT?” Tony shouted back.
> 
> “Hey, you’re the one who brought him in the first place! Why would you bring a 15 year old to fight with the avengers?!”

“This is the Spider- kid?” Steve asked. “From Germany?” 

“Umm...” Tony started. There was no denying it now. “Yeah, this is the spider kid.”

“Spider MAN!” Peter interrupted.  
“Quiet kid, the adults are talking. Go upstairs please.” Tony pleaded.

“Uggh, fine.” The kid pouted, but turned around and went upstairs. 

 

“Tony... how, old is he?” 

“Umm... well, he just turned 16.”

“So...” Steve stopped, and looked horrified.

“I dropped the entire loading dock of an airport on a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD?” 

“You did WHaT?” Tony shouted back.

“Hey, you’re the one who brought him in the first place! Why would you bring a 15 year old to fight with the avengers?!”

“Okay, okay. Looking back now I realize that wasn’t the best decision. Hell if he had been hurt I don’t think I would have gotten over it. At the time, I saw the videos of him online and I thought ‘Wow he’s good, I can use him’ and I was desperate to find anyone I could, regardless of the consequences. But, I have come to get to know him, and he’s a great kid, and he’s actually really strong. This kid has been through so much shit and he’s so resilient and...”

Tony stopped, because Steve was staring at the ceiling.

“I can see why you like him so much.” Steve said.

Tony looked up to where Steve was looking.

“You can come down now Queens.”

Peter sighed, but dropped down from the ceiling.

“Didn’t I JUST-“ Tony started.

“Hi, I’m Steve Rogers,” Steve interrupted. “You must be Peter.”

He held out his hand, and Peter shook it.

“Hi Mr. Rogers, oh my gosh I’m such a huge fan, and oh by the way I’m sorry I took your shield and I oh my God I’ll just shut up now.”

Steve laughed. “Please, call me Steve, Mr. Rogers makes me feel so old.”

Peter pondered this for a moment.

“But.. aren’t you-” he started, but Tony elbowed him in the side and he didn’t finish his sentence.

“Now that we’re all acquainted, come meet the others,” Tony stated. They walked out into the lobby, where Clint, Natasha, Sam, and Scott were waiting. 

“Oh my God it’s Hawkeye and Falcon and Black Widow and... and that guy who got really big and almost broke my ribs?”

Tony chuckled. “That’s Ant Man, Scott Lang.” This was going to be great.


End file.
